Shadow of the Dragon
by UnderlandFox-0
Summary: Life and Death have little meaning to one who stands alongside Time itself. Minato, it seems, was lucky that such a being found his son more important that standing on the sidelines. (I do not own Naruto. The only thing of this story that I own is my characters.)
1. Prologue

Chapter 1 – Crossed Paths

"Regular Speaking"

"Kanashi Speaking"

This story is going through a full rewrite, and certain details will change and rearrange. As it stands, I am currently working on the second chapter, and here is the prologue.

There is a poll up on my profile of if Minato will become Hokage again or not. Please vote so that I can have a precise direction to go with that and so that I may put up the next poll.

Ja ne, and please enjoy this new installment of Shadow of the Dragon!

* * *

 _At any other time, she supposed the sky would have comforted her._

 _Dark and cloudless and teaming with stars, the full moon high overhead. So calm and serene, usually giving her a sense of peace when everything around her began falling apart._

 _But that time was over._

 _The stars no longer comforted her. The moon reminded her too much of what she was now._

 _ **Alone.**_

 _The ground was blackened and bloody from the battle that had raged around her only yesterday. Her form wasn't any better, covered in oozing wounds that bled with the silver of her blood and bruises that wouldn't give her any reprieve even with her regenerative abilities. Her mind wasn't spared from wounds either._

 _She'd seen their faces and had fought side by side in a war that ravaged their world despite her attempts to stop it before it began. She was there every step, fighting and killing and praying she could win. She fought with the people who had become her home, giving it her all in the hopes they would all make it against the people who wanted them all to burn._

 _And then she watched as every single one of them died._

 _Her father: so strong and yet so broken, building himself up from hardship upon hardship through his long life. He'd died keeping his grandfather from killing his wife and mate._

 _Her mother: fury blazing in her eyes and magic roaring around her in a brilliant final stand that greatly weakened but did not kill the beast that had taken her love. She had died collapsed over her mate from using too much, a forlorn picture around them as she paid the price that magic demanded._

 _Her uncle and aunt: raging over the loss of their brother and his beloved as their own fought beside them. Killed with the combined might of Hebiko's forces, but taking most of them with them in a ferocious final stand._

 _Her brothers: fighting side by side and dwindling the armies down to the last, until Hebiko had destroyed them with hellfire and celestial blood combined with the stolen blood of her child._

 _Her friends: the ones who had stood with her through hell and had marched with her into this war to defend all she and they cared for. Only to die as her great grandfather turned his fury upon them, wiping out his own forces with them_

 _Her beloved: fighting a losing battle with hellfire to save their children as she rushed to save him, only to howl in agony and despair as they all burned in her trapped gaze. There was no body for any, and no time to grieve as she turned her fury and pain to the battle._

 _And her sister. Her sister: who had been hiding in the enemy's forces pretending to be dead, to protect them. She had died as she lived. **Protecting**. Protecting _ the island _, protecting_ their forces _, **protecting her** as their great grandfather met a fiery end at the hands of a sister so filled with pain and rage and **vengeance** that it boiled hot enough to burn even hellfire. A sister who had succumbed to her terrible wounds in the end after enacting the vengeance for all those who were lost and who had lost in this damned war. A sister who's love she had never believed until that moment, a moment too late to apologize for useless doubts_

 _And then, it was down to two: her and Hebiko. Fighting, striking, aiming to kill; crossing over to a world not their own and forcing their bodies past exhaustion to allow one more blow._

 _And that final moment that she lost everything._

 _In the end, standing over his beaten form as she forced the darkness from his body, Hebiko had begged for death, regret and torment in his eyes for all he'd been forced to do while corrupted and driven insane._

 _And she had allowed him that. She had given him salvation for his sins, freeing him from the body that had caused so much pain and agony with a mind twisted by something not his own._

 _And then she was alone._

 _Her thoughts are not kind._

 _They rage about how she could have done more, moved differently, faster, saved a life, ended a life. They rage over her cowardice and weakness years before when she chose to leave Hebiko alive, how weak she had been that she couldn't stop him from taking the gem.._

 _And then they despair._

 _Over loss. Loss of hope. Loss of family and friends._

 _Loss of a future, because she knows she will not be able to continue if all she has left is this scarred battlefield with the cold body a few inches away and a world beyond where another battlefield lays with only death among the soil and rage and pain and despair to keep her company for all that she has lost._

 _And she fights to keep herself blank, because despair is so much worse than rage and rage will keep her standing, keep her moving and able to continue if she is only willing to, keep her from…_

 _From crying._

 _And, in the end, her tears win, cascading down her face in twin rivers as her face crumbles, her body collapsing as a sob wrenches from her breast._

 _Soon, she's gasping and crying and sobbing loudly into the night, venting her sorrow and rage and a pain so deep it taints her soul so that she can find some semblance of numbness on the morrow before her life ends by her own doing._

 _She had believed she'd faced loss before, before the youngest of her brothers was returned to her after his death. But now, after gaining so much- family, friends, a home- now it was lost to her, and she could find no reprieve. There was no hope left, for she knew what was given would eventually be taken._

 _And that is when she feels them._

 _Hands._

 _The ghost of a touch on her face, so familiar and welcome that her sobs break and crack enough to hurt her bruised and broken ribs._

 _The steady hand on her back, lending her strength where she held none, keeping her on her knees even if all she wants is to fall fully to the ground and waste away like pitiful vermin._

 _The heat of two hands over her chest, giving her warmth where a cold numbness had begun to flow._

 _The flowing hand sliding along her sides in an attempted comfort that only made her sob harder._

 _And the fleeting touch on her face and knees and hands and in her hair._

 _And she looks up and finds them:_

 _The Souls._

 _Her beloved Kaze, mask set aside to reveal a porcelain face that speaks of so much concern, it's form phasing from solid to see through, but it's touch soft and strong on her face._

 _Haku's Natura, her form twisting with twigs and flowers and her hand a steady weight on her back to keep her from breaking._

 _Seiko's adored Henya-wa-sei, two impassioned figured lending her heart the warmth she needs to stay away from the darkness that threatens to overwhelm and defeat._

 _Kunoshi's treasured Aquara, their form shifting constantly between as they help her adjust to this sudden and unwelcome change._

 _And Raiga, his form sparking and shifting constantly as he tried to distract her thoughts with fleeting touches and attempts at smiles._

 _And the pain that stabs her is pure heartbreak and desolation._

 _Because she can feel what they've done, what they forced onto her. She can feel what those selfish (But oh she knows, she knows it's selfless), idiotic (brave), infuriatingly self-sacrificing people she called family had done; what they had given her at the very last moment before they died._

 _She can feel her life stretch further than she's ever known. Can here the whispers of all that surrounds her, instead of only the wind. Her magic, the deep warmth that swells within her has grown and increased in strength, so much so that she knows she needs to retrain it._

 _And, overwhelmed and heartbroken and so full of pain and love and loss so keen she can't handle it anymore, she allows the blackness to wrap around her, her body dropping into waiting arms as she allows herself to fall with the realization that she is not alone, that she still has someone beside her._

 _Her family gave her their last hope:_

 _That she would continue to live at least one more day._

* * *

 _She is not conscious when the Souls agree to lock her away, to let her sleep away her pain and anguish until a time comes when her heart can be healed. So gentle are their touch that she does not stir, even as the darkness surround her and momentary peace is given to her._

 _In time, she will learn to either despise that peace, or welcome it._

* * *

 _Centuries later..._

Some say that Death is like falling asleep. That it gives a weightlessness and senses of peace to ease a troubled soul into the next life.

Minato thought it was overrated bullshit.

His chest felt heavy with regret and sorrow, trapped in a never-ending limbo with only his thoughts to torture him.

His memories were clear though, and that made it all the worse. Growing up, every beautiful moment with his beloved Red Death, his son- his son who he had turned into a Jinchuuriki. His son, who he had condemned to that hell.

He was a naive fool, hoping in that moment that the villagers would abide his wishes and see Naruto as a hero after his death, for protecting them from Kyuubi. But, logic overruled optimism. Humans were selfish. They felt pain and took that pain out on other in a never-ending cycle because they simply refused to find another way.

The realization that he had willingly condemned his son to that life repulsed him. The wish that he could make up for his sins was fervent, but unheeded as he wasted away in this blankness. He knew there was no forgiveness for what he'd done, and he didn't want it if there were. He deserved the harshest punishment the Shinigami would bestow upon him, and hoped that at least one person would care for his son, but knew such a wish would go unheard if he were the one to ask it.

 **"...So much self-hate and cynicism, for one so young."**

His mind snapped to Shinobi mode instantly, ice blue eyes searching the darkness quickly but knowing it would only end up being futile. "..It is within reason...I didn't think Death was talkative.." He stated carefully, his voice level. Minato didn't know how long he had spent in this darkness alone, with only his thoughts to accompany him; not a very nice thing when his mind was filled with his regrets and self-loathing. But it surely wouldn't have been hard to notice a presence appearing, or even being there before he arrived...Unless it was something that did not wish to be found.

 **"...Call it boredom, Minato Namikaze."**

A shiver passed through him, though he knew he shouldn't be surprised. Death was, after all, supposed to know the names of those it took. Listening to it closely though, now that he knew it was there, Minato recognized a female voice, raising an eyebrow. "..Boredom?" He asked, curiosity taking over as he tried to pierce the black that surrounded him, with no luck, searching for the entity.

 **"It's been a few millennia since I've had another to speak to. You have come to be stuck with me. I suppose I could ask for worse company."**

That made his eyebrow raise further. "...A rather high...compliment... I suppose even the dead need conversation?"

 **"It would seem so. But, then again-"**

He felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder with a bruising grip, a shock shooting through him and somehow forcing his body into absolute stillness. The hand squeezed before roughly pulling him sharply to the side, the darkness doing little to help him regain equilibrium. The last thing he heard before reality faded only caused a weak flicker of shock and confusion. And then he is taken through blinding light with pain unlike anything he's ever felt shooting through his body, the world collapsing from beneath him as the hand shoves him into another.

 **"I'm not dead."**


	2. Resurface

Chapter 2 - Resurface

"Regular Speaking."  
 _'Thinking.'_

 **"Kanashi/Demonic speaking."**

 **' _Demonic Thinking.'_**

A special thanks to Snipern0Sniping for beta-ing this for me and helping me form new ideas!  
  
And thus, the installment of chapter 2! Shall we see what happens next?

* * *

When the world stabilized once more, Minato could see brightness behind his eyelids, grimacing at the slight pain it caused from his stay in darkness as he regains his footing. Slowly, he lets them slide open once the pain dulled, blinking a few times, before allowing his eyes to widen.

 _'Blue…'_

Water surrounded him, Minato watching his hair float softly in front of him, along with his torn clothing; the world stretches on and only in a never-ending sequence and bright and dark blues and subtle hints of green that remind him of his beloved Kushina. He could feel each caress of the element as his body moves only slightly with the soft current, his being cradled in a way he's never known. The distant question of how seem to matter very little in this place, his eyes drooping in soft contentment. He felt...weightless... _Free.._

 **"...You are not afraid."**

His mind and body snapped to attention, tensing as he turned sharply, his hand going to his thigh for weapons he no longer held, instinct guiding his body. His eyes were sharp and clear, shaking away the last of the peace in favor of readiness to protect himself in case of danger.

The sight that greeted him was not one he had expected, his eyes widening only slightly before a calm mask caged his shock and trepidation. This was something he'd never been trained to handle..

"...No.."

A single eye, silver with the slightest hue of lavender, regarded him cooly; the woman's skin was as pale as moonlight and her deeply violet hair swaying gently in the water surrounding them, floating five inches passed her feet and wild in its disarray. Her right eye lay hidden beneath a wild wave of hair, her bangs extended to the middle of her chest and the rest gathered back in a high ponytail held by a purple sash pulled into a bow with the excess floating to her shoulders as ribbons. Behind her bangs, he spots her ears; pointed and definitely not human.

She wore a sleeveless black top with a high, tight neck that stops at the middle of her ribs with a ring of orange as tight trimming and black pants tucked into violet boots at the knee. A skirt of lavender fur floats above her pants around her hips, a purple sash tied criss-crossed over her chest and wrapped around her hips on top of the skirt, her hands covered from second finger-joint to shoulder in black fingerless gloves also with orange trim. He's never seen the style, nor does he recognize the material, and his gaze is sharply drawn back to the being when he sees her begin to move.

The woman tilted her head, her gaze never leaving him. Raising her hand, she slowly let's it flow to the side and then upwards towards him, before her hand twitched sharply towards herself.

Suddenly, Minato is standing in front of her, her face a mere inch from his and her eye scorching in its scrutiny in a speed even he, the Yellow Flash, can't track. His body wants to throw itself to the side in response to her action but his blood freezes at the look she gives him. Keeping his body still so that he won't give in to the temptation to squirm. He felt like prey beneath eyes of a much larger predator, and _he didn't like it!_ His hand sits frozen on his thigh where his pouch should be, Minato cursing the lack of a weapon as he wonders what she'll do.

Something in her gaze changes, causing him to tense as he prepares to flee…

Only to freeze as she _smiles._

 _'..What..?'_

 **"..You humans...always have the most amusing reaction."** She murmured, slowly leaning away and allowing Minato to relax just the slightest bit, watching her smile so sadly as her eyes gain a wistful tint.

"...I am Kanashi Yasei, the Last." She states, _and oh does her name fit perfectly with that look in her eyes and the pain in her smile, a name meaning 'sorrow'_ , one arm in front and curled to the side as she bows at the waist slightly, straightening and watching him. **"I have been awake for a mere century, and yet so many things have changed."**

Minato tensed as she drifted closer, bringing up two hands to cradle his face, his eyes wide with shock at the sheer maternal feeling the gesture inspires, instead of the flirtatious way he's so used to.

" **...You've lost much, little one. Sacrificed much as well. Tell me,"** She tilts her head, regarding him with that sad gaze. **"..If you had a chance to return to him, would you take it?"**

The question snaps in his mind so sharply that it hurts, though the flinch of his hands is the only response as he stares, his mind whirling with thousands of thoughts and responses and questions.

"..If..? If I could...return...What would it cost me..?" He eventually asks after several long moments of silence, logic kick-starting at the fact that nothing ever comes freely. _'My son,'_ the desire to see him burns so painfully within him but what does she want in exchange?

The smile she gives is proud, strangely, and wistful. **"..You keep your lessons well."** She compliments softly, her fingers slipping into his side-bangs in a mother's caress. Her actions disturbed Minato, her gaze had froze him like prey but her actions were gentle, a contradiction. It disorientated him slightly, though he kept calm to hide that fact.

 **"..I have been locked here, by well-meaning people who designed a way out that would require me to reach for another."** She explained softly, her voice tinged with honestly though Minato could here the slightest hint of withdrawn information. **"All I ask is that you release me."**

"..Why were you locked away?" He asked, his eyes sharp and focused; why would she be 'locked away' by 'well-meaning people?' It only added to the contradiction. But that did not distract him from the question he'd asked, his eyes studying her face intently for any ill intent. He would not be tricked into freeing something that would harm his son.

Her hands paused in their attention, and Minato almost regrets asking when he sees the anguish that twists her features, the faintest tremble to her hands noticed only because they rested so near to his skin.

 **"..Because I was in pain."** She murmured, her voice steady, even if he can detect a slight hitch in her breath. Her eye appeared lost, her gaze drifting far from then and now into someplace he doesn't know. If possible, the anguish in her gaze threatens to increase, barely held-back tears in her eye.

"...I'm sorry."

She snaps back into focus at the unexpected apology, turning her questioning gaze to him. **"...You've no reason to be. The question should have been expected, since I doubt you would be the type to trust another so easily. My pain means little, when compared to that child's."**

' _Naruto.'_ The name crosses Minato's mind with a sharp pang before he shakes it away, "Pain is pain. It's measured differently by standards set by another, but we all feel it. That pain means something even if it's small; no matter what anyone states. Suffering isn't a competition to see who hurts more. It's a state of being where the only thing you can do is hope it fades or lowers to a manageable level where you won't be forced to bend and break every time it passes." He states sharply, shifting his arms."Your pain matters just as much as anyone else's."

His hands raise to cover hers, pressing them to his face as the smallest means of comfort to make up for causing her to remember the anguish in her past. The flash of surprise crossing her face doesn't escape his notice, before a softer, less sad smile crosses her lips, her hands cupping his face in a way he's never known and isn't sure what it means, though he knows there is nothing romantic in the gesture. It's a jolt in his mind that reminds him that this is what a mother's touch is suppose to be like, though he isn't sure how he knows such a thing, being an orphan from a young age. Still, his gaze is steady and sure.

 **"...You always did surprise me, Minato Namikaze."** She murmured, letting her head fall to press her forehead against his, her eye closed. Her mind flashes with memories: the anguish she'd endured centuries ago, the years spent in confusion and hurt, memories that have brought her to this moment. Kanashi draws in a soft breath to steady herself and quiet her heart, before she leans away while opening her eye and gazes at him seriously. **"Will you release me?"** She asks.

At the question, Minato takes a moment to really look at her, to see more than just the surface. And she allows him to. Her eyes are open, showing pain and anguish, but also hope and determination. But, it's the flash of a memory that makes up his mind.

"Tell me what I need to do."

She smiles, before slowly slipping her hands away. **"The Hokage monument. There is a small silver oval with a swirled 'Y' inside located in the left eye of the Nidaime. Carve the 'Y', and use the wind. Then I will be free."** She murmured, before letting go of him entirely.

"..'Use the wind'? He asks, his eyebrows drawing together in confusion, though his mind immediately started supplying him with theories.

She smiles, and Minato has to blink because that smile is so different from the rest. It tells of love and joy, with only the slightest twinge of sorrow.

 **"I can sense it, that freedom. You have the fire in your blood and lightning in your limbs, but the wind reigns in your mind. To free me, you have to focus on the wind, instead of using the other two."**

 _'Could she be talking about chakra affinities?'_ Minato thought, before a sudden jolt of sharp pain catches his immediate attention, his body jerking sharply in response for a few seconds before beginning to float upwards. Turning his gaze upwards in surprise, Minato turned his gaze back to Kanashi as he moved further once his focus returned, his eyes widening at the sight that greeted him.

Instead her form floating calmly in the increasing distance, a towering beast now occupies the space, several times bigger than even the Hokage Tower and darkly colored. With a start, Minato recognizes the creature by what he's seen from books of his childhood, the few small fairy tales he'd read before turning his aspirations to Hokage and being a Shinobi. The tales of damsels and knights and _dragons_.

Its body appeared pitch black, though he could see a darkly violet hue when light hits the scales, a flowing mane of soft lavender and black flowing from head to tail in an elegant mess. The slim head with four horns that curve upwards and then back atop a slender neck raises, two eyes opening to greet him; the left the same strange silver he'd first been greeted with, and the right a gleaming gold resembling amber with flecks of honey yellow.

Studying the dragon, he saw the body was long and thin, but packed with wiry muscles, dangerously sharp talons on the feet, with strange protrusions that appeared to be blades curving from the elbows of the front legs and the heels of the back legs. His eyes caught the gleam that spoke of hidden blades sliding down the length inside the hair of the creature as well, making for a dangerous hidden weapon.

Feeling more like prey than ever, Minato kept still as the dragon watched him, before its maw opened slowly, making him tense further.

 **"This is the form that will replace the symbol once you unlock the seal, just so you'll know and won't be surprised."** His eyes widened at the sound of Kanashi's voice, his body slowly relaxing as he watched her with caution, his eyebrow twitching lightly at the hint of amusement he detected in her tone.

"...That...is..rather amazing.." He stated softly as his fear began to melt away, his eyes taking the time to study this new form with interest.

The corners of her maw quirked upwards in show of a strange smile, though it didn't look friendly when one focused on the shape and number of teeth lining her jaw. **"Thank you. Now, I believe it is time you returned to the living, Minato Namikaze. There is a little boy who needs you."** She murmured, leaning forward while closing her mouth to nudge him with her nose.

The action made him give a surprised chuckle, his hands settling gently on her snout and his expression bright at the thought of seeing his son once more, before dimming as he recalled what he'd done.

"..How..How w-will I make it..up to him…?" He asked softly, his voice fighting passed the tightness in his throat.

 **"By being what you are,"** was her answer, a soft look of understanding and pain in her eyes that made him question if she had children, and a pang jolted in his heart when he wondered if she had _lost_ her children; if that was why she held so much pain...

In response, he gave a sad and curious smile. "And..what am I?"

She nudged him again, before pushing his body upwards until he began floating higher and higher. The higher he floated the more his lungs began to burn and his eyes went wide at the feeling and realization, his limbs instinctively working to take him up for air. Turning his gaze away, he heard her answer as the water around him turned dark, just before he broke the surface to inhale a sharp and gasping gulp of air, his heart beating hard against his ribcage with life once more.

 **"A father."**

* * *

And thus, onto chapter 3! Please review if you have any thoughts or ideas you wish to impart, or to offer even just your opinion! I'll be sure to credit any who offer wisdom I use.

Also, I ask that you check the poll on my profile for if Minato should be Hokage again or not!  
Ja-ne~!


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